Current Affairs : 2nd April, 2017 : Karnataka gets most supportive govt. award

       

     The Government of Karnataka received the most supportive government award-2017 at the International Awards ceremony held in Washington, D.C.

The award was given by WEConnect International, an organisation working to identify, educate, register and certify women’s business enterprises based outside the U.S. Presented in recognition of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s dedication to women’s economic development, the award was received by K. Ratna Prabha, Additional Chief Secretary on behalf of the government.

          Service tax will be exempted on train tickets booked online for a further period till June 30. To help passengers during the demonetisation months and charge was withdrawn for tickets booked from November 23, 2016 to March 31, 2017.

The exemption has now been extended, a senior Railway Ministry official said. The Information and Technology Ministry advised the Railways to extend the exemption. The service charge ranges from ₹20 to ₹40 a ticket.

 

India is seeking $2 billion in funding from the New Development Bank for infrastructure projects and wants the multilateral agency to be nimble footed in disbursing faster loans.

Arun Jaitley said the first agreement for an NDB loan in India to finance major district roads in Madhya Pradesh has been signed on April 2017.

IndiaState-owned NTPC has hit 50GW capacity with the commissioning of a 500 MW unit at Unchahar in Uttar Pradesh, taking its total installed capacity to 50,498 MW. NTPC contributes nearly 24% of India’s power generation.

Ranked the world’s third largest power company by coal-based power generation capacity, NTPC is ranked second among independent power producers globally by Platts, according to a company release. 

IndiaFive years ago, India had two aircraft carriers and China had none. Now, perhaps as early as this month, the People’s Liberation Army (Navy), or PLA(N), will match India in carrier numbers.

Naval analysts believe that, on April 23 — the PLA(N)’s 68th anniversary —  its second carrier will be officially launched.

The new carrier is being named Shandong. While the Liaoning is termed a Type 001 carrier, the Shandong will be categorised Type 001A.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) had sanctioned Rs 1,400 crore (EUR 200 million) loan to State Bank of India to fund solar power projects.
The long-term loan will support total investment of EUR 650 million in five different large-scale photo-voltaic solar power projects, EIB. This will contribute to India’s National Solar mission and reduce dependence on fossil fuel power generation. 

  

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) researchers have found a novel way to recycle the mounting pile of electronic waste more efficiently and in an environmentally friendly manner.

According to the United National Environmental Programme, about 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated annually across the world. The new approach is based on the idea of crushing e-waste into nanosize particles using a ball mill at very low temperature ranging from -50 to -150 degree Celsius.

         

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance announced that Tapan Singhel, Managing Director and CEO has been re-appointed for a further period of five years, with effect from April 1, 2017.

After months of uncertainty and controversy, Bob Dylan finally accepted the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature at a jovial, champagne-laced ceremony, the Swedish Academy announced.

New Zealand all-rounder Grant Elliott has confirmed his retirement from international cricket after signing a deal to play in England’s T20 competition. The 38-year-old confirmed his full retirement from international cricket while receiving a special presentation alongside Nathan McCullum at an award ceremony.

The ninth annual World Autism Awareness Day is April 2, 2017. Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events.

Theme of 2017:“Toward Autonomy and Self-Determination”.